Saturday, 25 June 2011

Welcome to part one of 'Jewellery in the Making'! For my next five blogs, I will be showing you how I have produced one of my latest products - an item of jewellery - the wooden cuff.

From my research into the diameter of the cuff, I was able to establish the correct diameter for my male forma. By measuring the thickness of the number of veneers required to make up the cuff, this gave me the diameter of the female forma. I then proceeded to make my template to help me replicate the components for making the female forma.

Marking out the diameter of the template

To router out the perfect circle in the template, I had to create a jig that had a pin offset from the furthest edge of the straight fluted cutter to the radius of the circle.

By placing the mdf on to the centre pin and adjusting the height of the cutter through every 360 degree turn, I was able to achieve the perfect circle. You must not let the cutter cut through the thickness of the mdf - leaving 0.5-1mm is ideal as it maintains the point of reference for rotation.

All that is left to do is to cut out the circle with a scalpel, and clean up the edge that the cutter did not machine.

Now we have the final template (before and after) ready for replicating the parts for the female forma.